Description

This report summarizes the third annual inventory of Wisconsin’s forests, conducted 2009–2014. Wisconsin’s forests cover 17.1 million acres with 16.6 million acres classified as timberland. Forests are bountiful in the north with Florence, Forest, Menominee, and Vilas Counties having over 90 percent forest cover. In the southeastern part of the State, forest cover is lowest with Dodge, Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, and Racine Counties having less than 10 percent forest cover. The sawtimber volume on timberland has been rising and is estimated to be 69.5 billion board feet. Oak/hickory is the predominant forest-type group, covering one-quarter of the forest land. The statewide growth-to-removal ratio on timberland is 2.2, indicating growth is outpacing removals. Additional information on Wisconsin’s forests such as growth, mortality, species composition, ownership, diseases, invasive plant species, and forest economics is detailed in this report. Information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and important resource statistics can be found online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-112.